Jay Rankin was born in Los Angeles and lived in Las Vegas for twelve years. After working for Los Angeles County as a probation officer Jay Rankin worked his way through college in the locked unit of psychiatric hospitals until he received his Master’s degree in psychology. In Las Vegas, he worked as the swing shift doorman for MGM, which is how he gathered the material for his book Under The Neon Sky….A Las Vegas Doorman’s Story. After 2 years of receiving rejection slips from publishers, Jay Rankin decided to self-publish and turned into a successful author.

You mentioned that publishers rejected you at the final stage of the submission process, could you elaborate on that?

Yes. This was probably the most frustrating part of my trying to get published. It seemed that my story went through all the channels of assistants, then agents and finally to the chief editor’s meeting where everyone gathers and tries to sell a particular book. Up to this point, several months may have passed. The publishing house considers all the possibilities and then decides. It’s a process that can take a great deal of time and this was my dilemma. The manuscript was done professionally with all the major issues such as editing, corrections, layout and of course, a great story all in order. My book continued to go to the last meetings and in all cases was rejected because of the same reason….money. I could understand that most books, the vast majority, do not bring a return on the publisher’s investment. My issue was that I was going to get old waiting. It took me a long time just to write my story because it was a work in progress since I was still working as a doorman. I had already begun using Just For Men since the beginnings of my submission process. It was ridiculous considering the odds if I continued in this way. I had also noticed a shift that was taking place in the publishing world. The issue of marketing or lack of it was becoming the norm in many publishing houses. Electronic books, and social marketing was beginning to really take hold. POD was rivaling typeset printing. The tectonic plates were slowly changing the surface of the book world. I then began researching self-publishing.

Where did you learn the skills to self-publish and how long did it take you?

Learning all the power points of self-publishing is like registering for a PhD. program, You can’t look at all the courses you will have to take on your first day or you’ll need medication. Read all about self-publishing on the Internet, it’s all right there. Gather your team: You will need an editor, interior designer, cover designer. Interview the POD companies. You will learn where to get ISBN numbers for all your formats. There’s word counts, page layouts, fonts….it’s a blast. The list goes on and on but you will do it. And then one day there it is, your book with all those little things you accomplished let alone writing the damn thing.


Your book came out in October 2009. How long did it take to start selling and how many copies have you sold to date?

I have never wanted to know how many copies I sold so I can’t answer that question but I do received a few checks each month.


Is there any marketing technique you used that had an immediate impact on your sales figures?

No. I use a combination of social marketing, conventional marketing, word of mouth, and am now preparing for my first virtual book tour. That being said, there are always targets. The word target is a term that all new authors should keep in mind so as not to get discouraged. I really believed that most people would want to read a very unique and well written book on Vegas. I was wrong. There are certain groups out there that WANT to read your story. You have to find them. Possibly book clubs, woman’s groups, social media targets.  If you wrote about sailing, then go to the closest marina and give away a certain number of your books to people who sail or find the nearest book store near the marina and have a book signing scheduled. There’s sail clubs and events. Have a boat manufacture give one of your books for each sale of a new or used boat. Get creative.

Your marketing techniques include many radio interviews and some TV interviews. What did you do to be invited to give those interviews?

I have done over 80 TV and radio interviews. Marketing is a really tough and fickle creature. I initially believed that if I invested in a conventional PR company, I would sell a million copies. Again, I was wrong. I still don’t know exactly why, but the important thing is to not give up. What did happen was the amazing experience I received being on radio stations throughout the country, being on CNN and the thrill of being connected to so many people.


To date, you are a one book author, though many self-published authors choose to publish short stories or novellas in addition to their novel in order to fill their page on Amazon. How do you think having a single book under your author’s name affects your image with potential readers?

I try to write articles about my subject and put them on my site. For example, since my book is about Las Vegas, I write about fight nights, the things people do when drunk, or the dangers of losing too much, and not just money. Create a blog which I should have done a long time ago.


Do you have any plan to write another book? What marketing mistakes you no doubt made in the first round, would you avoid?

One day I would love to write another book. I’m now a single dad of a 9 year old son. I had no idea how involved, difficult, consuming, exhausting, and exhilarating this would be. I’m shrinking while he’s growing. What better way to find purpose and contentment in your life?

I think once the first book is out, the second book is somewhat easier to market because of a fan base and the fact that as a self-published writer, one becomes more proficient at marketing. I don’t think I would go the conventional marketing route but rather try my hand at more speaking engagements, and working with would-be authors instead. It’s a lot less of an investment and the sales could be similar.

Could you briefly outline the 5 first things you would do to market that new book?

I would first place the new book on my website with links to Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This would also include downloading the first chapter for free. Next, I would research and hire a social marketing PR company and use Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook. I would send out press release queries to local TV, cable and talk show radio stations and request interviews. I would go after book clubs, bookstores and coffee shops to get the word out. I would schedule a virtual book tour. Don’t forget to sign up for book award contests, it’s nice to have awards on the cover of your book. Also, get reviews and put them on Amazon and the book. Lastly, I would put in a lot of time and research creating a book cover that really grabs the eyes. That speaks volumes with marketing. I also made up business size cards and put the title and my website on it to pass out to any stranger who smiles, winks, says hello, or speaks to me.

What advice would you give a writer considering self-publishing his book?

Start writing. Forget everything else. Then re-write. Then re-write. You will find that what started blah becomes wonderful. What began defensive turns honest. What you wrote in the middle, will be saved for the ending. Then begin the journey of learning about self-publishing. You will find that the things you would never have been in control of with a conventional publisher, is now in your hands.


Thank you Jay for your illuminating answers